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Restaurant departures jolt Fondren community

Clay Chandler, The Clarion-Ledger 9:26 a.m. CDT June 13, 2014

Since May 27, two Fondren restaurants have closed, and one of the neighborhood's landmark eateries has been listed for sale

The recent announcement that Que Sera Sera is being placed on the market along with the closures of Miso and Nick’s mark significant changes in the bustling Fondren dining market.
(Photo:
Photos by Joe Ellis/The Clarion-Ledger
)

Since May 27, two Fondren restaurants have closed, and one of the neighborhood's landmark eateries has been listed for sale.

Nick's owner Nick Apostle closed his shop after three decades, citing a desire to spend more time with his family. Que Sera Sera's Boo Noble cited similar reasons for putting the Creole joint on the market. Asian place Miso's owner, Grant Nooe, wasn't doing the business he needed to keep the doors open.

In 17 days, Fondren's restaurant scene transformed.

Miso followed the same track as its predecessor, Fatsumo, another Asian-themed restaurant in the same space that opened to big excitement and quietly closed a relatively short time later. The Auditorium, named after cavernous Duling Hall's auditorium, did the same.

"We just didn't do what we anticipated as far as the bar volume," said Grant Nooe, who opened Miso in May 2013. "Most restaurants there have a high bar mix, and we were doing all food."

Nooe said his dedication to authentic Asian cuisine likely hurt Miso, too. An example Nooe used was the menu's ramen noodles that were made from scratch using fresh pasta. That made them a completely different item from what's sold in a grocery store. Communicating that difference and getting enough people to grasp it was a challenge, he said.

There was a reliable group of regulars but not a consistent enough crowd.

"I'm not being critical of the community in any way, because there were a lot of people who did support it," Nooe said.

Miso's closing, and Fatsumo's before it, did not have the seismic shift that the announcement that Nick's and Que Sera Sera were turning the lights out after a combined 60 years in business. (Nick's arrived in Fondren in 2010, after opening on Lakeland Drive in the early 1980s.)

That kind of sudden turnover would startle a less-established area. For Fondren, which has spent a decade or so becoming one of the most desirable residential and retail enclaves in Jackson, it's an outright jolt. The district's success could be catching up with it, said Brad Reeves, who owns Brent's Drugs and adjoining bar Apothecary.

"The big challenge for any restaurant in Fondren is parking," he said. "It's not a major issue, but in Mississippi people are used to parking at the front door, and a lot of times that's not possible in Fondren, especially at night."

As parking spaces have dried up, rent has gone up. Commercial space in Fondren is among the most expensive in the Jackson area, Reeves said.

That is not meant to imply that Fondren will dry up anytime soon, Reeves and Nooe said. Miso's old space already has a tenant on the books. Jennifer and Derek Emerson — who own Walker's Drive-In — will expand their presence with a wine bar in Miso's old space. Que Sera Sera, which opened in 1989, will likely operate until a seller is found, Noble said last week.

Crammed parking lots and rising rent are symptoms of growth, said Derek Emerson.

"You have the find the right mix and fill a niche," he said. "And filling a niche is hard, especially if you have to convince people to come to your place and stop going to a place they've been going to for 20 years."

A.G. Helton, who owns the building that housed Nick's, said Wednesday that negotiations with three prospects have gotten serious.

"I'm saddened by Nick's closing, but I'm encouraged by the number and nature of the inquiries I've gotten," Helton said.